Xander Baby
by Crystal Blue Montana
Summary: Oneshot Xander/Vida holiday fluff! While decorating the Rock-Porium for the holiday season, Xander's Aussie accent is a source of embarrassment for... Vida?


Xander Baby

**A/N: This came to me all of a sudden yesterday, when I was out doing my Secret Santa shopping. Like me, the co-worker whose name I'd drawn extols the talent and good looks of Richard Brancatisano, and his Australian accent inspired me to enclose a custom insert from "Xander Claus" with her gift, and this fic sprouted not long after.**

**I apologize if any element of this story might be a tad OOC for the players involved... the beauty of slight AU, I call it.**

"**Blue Christmas" lyrics written by Billy Hayes and Jay W. Johnson. "Santa Baby" lyrics written by Joan Javits, Philip Springer, and Tony Springer. **

**All **_**PRMF**_** characters are the property of Disney/Jetix.**

Madison and Vida arrived at the Rock-Porium. They were there an hour before their shift was to actually start, for they had been drafted by Toby to decorate the store for the holiday shopping season. Vida had just unlocked the front door when Madison groaned, "Oh no," and threw her hands up in exasperation.

"What's wrong, sis?" asked Vida.

"I can't believe that I forgot to bring my camcorder with me. I wanted to film how the Rock-Porium is going to look after we finish decorating it," answered Madison. "You know, before the customers come in."

Vida held out her keyring. "Here, give me your bag and go fetch your camcorder. Nick should be here any moment, so it's not like I'm going to be stuck by myself for too long."

Madison traded her shopping bag full of holiday decorations for Vida's keys and hugged her sister. "Thanks. I'll try to make it quick." She jumped into Vida's jeep, gunned the engine, and started for home.

Vida stepped into the Rock-Porium, locking the door behind her. After turning on the lights, she reached into her shopping bag and pulled out a CD of classic Christmas tunes. She slipped the silvery disc into the stereo system at her DJ platform and started it up to get herself into the spirit of the season. As Bing Crosby's "Let It Snow" rolled through the speakers, Vida heard a key turning in the lock of the Rock-Porium's front door. She turned and was surprised by the sight of Xander holding his keys in one hand and a cardboard drink caddy with three tall coffee cups in the other. "Xander? What are you doing here?"

"Good morning, V," said Xander cheerily. He set the drinks on the sales counter. "Nick wasn't feeling well this morning, so he asked me to trade shifts with him. He'll be closing tonight." He extracted a coffee cup from the caddy and handed it to Vida. "You like caramel macchiato, if I remember correctly?"

"Ooh, yes, and thank you." Vida took a sip of the coffee and sighed happily. She pulled several folded dollar bills from her skirt pocket, counted off four, and held them out to Xander.

Xander waved his hand. "Don't worry about it, love. It's my treat today. Where's Maddie?"

"She went home to go get her camcorder. She'll be back soon. And thank you."

"You're welcome," said Xander. "So, where shall we begin?"

Vida looked around. "We'll start by hanging the tinsel around the perimeter of the store and putting up the holiday cutouts. There won't be much more to do until Toby gets here with the tree."

"Right."

"And I'll need you to do more than just 'supervise,'" Vida said warningly. "If you're sitting on your butt if I should fall off a ladder and hurt myself, I'll kick it when I get out of the hospital."

"Got it." Xander took a gulp of coffee and set his cup on the sales counter. "I'll get the ladder." He headed for the stock room. The strains of Elvis Presley's "Blue Christmas" began as he closed the stock room door and carried the ladder out to the sales floor. Suddenly, Xander felt a bit cheeky, and he struck a pose, using the ladder as a makeshift microphone stand as he sang along with the King:

_I'll have a blue Christmas without you  
I'll be so blue just thinking about you  
Decorations of red on a green Christmas tree  
Won't be the same dear, if you're not here with me__…_

Vida, who was sorting through the cutouts, looked over at Xander as he continued to sing along with "Blue Christmas" as he set up the ladder and began hanging tinsel garlands. Every few seconds, Xander would hold up a piece of the garland and sing into it like it were a microphone, and Vida found herself giggling at the sight of him.

Xander turned to see Vida watching him and winked at her. "See something you like?"

Vida felt her face get warm. "I, er, no!" she stammered. "Quit fooling around and get that tinsel hung." She turned her attention back to the cutouts spread in front of her.

Xander chuckled. _She so wants me_, he thought. Andy Williams' "Winter Wonderland" was next on the playlist, and as the song played, Xander's musings about Vida gave way to thoughts of how, even after having been away from Australia for several years, he still wasn't accustomed to the idea of snow, much less cooler temperatures in December.

Vida grabbed a roll of tape from behind the sales counter. She began hanging cutouts of snowmen, angels, and Santa Claus on the walls, under where Xander had already hung tinsel garlands. The next song to play was Eartha Kitt's "Santa Baby," which no one would have ever guessed was a guilty pleasure of hers. Vida swayed her hips in time with the music, absently singing along with the song's seductive purr:

_Santa baby, just slip a sable under the tree, for me  
Been an awful good girl  
Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight_

_Santa baby, a '54 convertible, too, light blue,  
I'll wait up for you, dear  
Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight…_

Vida became so engrossed in both taping cutouts to the Rock-Porium walls and singing "Santa Baby" that when she reached the doorway that led to the back areas, she turned and bumped into Xander, who was standing in the doorway watching her. "Oh! Um, sorry, Xander." She felt her face grow warm again and cursed herself inwardly for blushing in front of him. "Are you done with the tinsel?"

"Not yet," he answered. "I just thought I heard you singing to me is all." He grinned mischievously.

"I was not! What in the world are you talking about?"

"Oh, come on," teased Xander. He began to sing a few bars of "Santa Baby," substituting his name for the word "Santa."

Vida suddenly realized, to her infinite embarrassment, that in Xander's Australian accent, "Xander baby" did sound very much like "Santa baby." "Oh, please. You are completely mental. Now, if you'll excuse me," she snapped. She tried to walk around him, but he stopped her.

"Uh-uh, not so fast," Xander put one hand on Vida's shoulder and pointed up to the top of the door arch.

Vida looked up to where Xander was pointing and spied the sprig of mistletoe that hung there. "What the… oh, good grief!" She set the roll of tape and the cutouts she was holding on top of one of the DVD bins and folded her arms. Rolling her eyes, she sighed resignedly, "Let's get this over with."

Xander suddenly felt his heart beating very quickly. For quite some time now, he'd had affectionate feelings towards Vida and longed to kiss her, but was fearful of what such an act would do to their friendship. _It's now or never_, he thought to himself. Slowly, he brought his face closer to Vida's. When their lips connected, Xander felt an exhilaration unlike any he had ever experienced. He had only intended for the kiss to be short and sweet, but the sensation of Vida returning his kiss as gently as he had bestowed it upon her overwhelmed him, and he continued to let his lips caress hers. Xander wrapped his arms around Vida's figure and pulled her to him.

Vida hadn't expected Xander's kiss to be as sweet as it had been, finding it impossible to not respond in kind, nor did she expect the gesture to send a wonderful tingling sensation through her body. When he drew her closer to him, her own arms slid around his waist. When Xander finally pulled back slowly from her, Vida felt herself tremble slightly. "Wow," she breathed. Looking up into his eyes, she could see the desire storming within them. "I still say you're mental," she joked, her voice husky.

"I know," Xander whispered.

The two continued to stand under the doorway, arms around each other, looking into the other's eyes. Finally, Vida spoke. "We should probably, um, get back to…"

"Oh, right, right," mumbled Xander, the reluctance evident in his voice. He slowly removed his arms from around Vida. Giving her one more sincere smile, he walked back to where he had last left the ladder and tinsel garland.

Vida watched Xander as she gathered up the cutouts and tape. At that moment, the front door of the Rock-Porium opened, and Madison came walking briskly through the door, camcorder in hand. "Vida, you're a lifesaver. Thanks again." She held out Vida's keys.

"You're welcome." Vida smiled and took her keys back from Madison.

"Hi Maddie," called Xander. "I traded shifts with Nick this morning. I bought you a coffee; it's on the front counter."

"Oh, hi Xander," Madison called back. "And thank you." She turned back to Vida. "Are you okay? You look a bit flushed."

"I do?" Vida knew exactly why, but thought quickly. "Boy, I guess this decorating is harder work than I thought. Maybe I should take a break soon."

"You should. Meanwhile, I'm going to get some of that coffee," said Madison. She headed for the sales counter.

The Boston Pops' "Sleigh Ride" had been playing on the stereo when it abruptly stopped. Vida whirled around to see Xander standing behind her DJ platform, his attention directed at the CD player. "Xander! You better not have touched any of my settings!" she warned.

"Relax, V, I know what I'm doing," said Xander soothingly. The opening notes to "Santa Baby" flowed from the speakers as he hopped down from the platform.

"Hey," protested Madison, coffee cup in hand as she joined Vida, "I was listening to that."

"You'll have to take it up with 'Xander baby,'" said Vida, tipping her head towards Xander, who suddenly looked unusually embarrassed at the reference. She returned to hanging up the cutouts, trying her best to look annoyed, but threw a wink at him when she thought that Madison wouldn't notice.

Madison giggled to herself when she saw Vida wink at Xander. _I swear_, she thought, _those two just need to admit that they like each other_.

**Merry Christmas from Crystal Blue Montana and "Xander Claus!" Gee, don't I wish there _was_ a Xander Claus...**


End file.
